Checking In: The Omni Homestead Resort

The Omni Homestead Resort located in Hot Springs, Virginia has been on our list of places to visit, so we decided to make it the destination for our yearly Fall trip.

In the past we’ve only driven through Virginia, so this marked our first official stay in the state. While it’s stated to be a 4 hour drive from Charlotte (we live just outside of the city.) It ended up taking us 7 hours with several quick stops for this and that on the way up. (It’s just under six if you do just one stop for gas and one for a quick bite/Starbucks run.)

Once you get into Covington, VA and begin going through miles of switchbacks, you’ll want to stop at this lovely waterfall, Falling Springs Falls.

It was considerably colder the moment we entered Virginia. Thankfully I had planned ahead, and popped on one of my favorite long sweaters before making the last leg of the trip to Hot Springs.

The Omni Homestead Resort | Hot Springs, VA

The first thing you see after turning at the sign for the Homestead and driving past the various houses on the drive, is the tower. It just seems to pop up out of nowhere, and then you get the full effect of this massive resort.

Since it was chilly out, and we were tired from the long trip up, we dropped the car off with the valet and headed inside to the warm interior of the lobby to get ourselves checked in and go up to our room.

(Note: You’ll definitely want to valet as it costs the same as self parking, and it’s quite a hike to get to the parking lots.)

Let me tell you, pictures can hardly give you an idea of how massive this resort is. So be prepared to do quite a bit of walking if you plan a visit for yourself and take advantage of one of the maps available at the concierge desk.

This year marks The Homestead’s 250th year of operation. (The original was much smaller, and far less grand than the current version of the hotel that opened in the early 1900’s.)

To mark this milestone, there was cake served in the lobby every afternoon at 2:50pm. We missed this occasion on the first day, but you can see the pictures from the celebration we did get to enjoy in tomorrows post.

Since there were 3 in our party, we were given one of the suites, so it was the couch for me and these two beds for mum and my sister (Ashley Jane) in the room that had a lovely balcony to take in the back of the property and the town of Hot Springs.

After resting for a little while, we headed out of the hotel to the Casino Restaurant located on the property. (It’s one of several eateries located on the property.)

Mum and Ashley enjoyed some Crispy Zucchini with Green Goddess dip.I had the Club Panini.Mum enjoyed the Chopped Chicken Salad.Ashley enjoyed this Buratta & Confit Tomato Pizza with Fresh Arugula

Stay tuned for tomorrows post where we take a tour of The Homestead, check out both Hot Springs and Warm Springs, and helped celebrate 250 years of The Homestead.